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TTC recruits York Region Transit head to help improve service

The general manager of York Region Transit will be in charge of improving the TTC's bus and streetcar service.

During Rick Leary's five years heading York Region Transit, ridership grew from 18.6 million to about 23 million riders annually on its regular buses and Viva express service.
(DAVID COOPER / TORONTO STAR FILE PHOTO)

Five years after taking the wheel at York Region Transit, Rick Leary is crossing the border again.

But this time, the former Boston transit executive is only going as far as the TTC, where he has been named chief service officer. He will be responsible for driving up the performance of bus and streetcar routes and will oversee the system’s 69 subway stations. The six group station managers appointed last year will report to him.

“He has the knowledge, experience and, critically, the people skills to drive up performance of surface transit and customer satisfaction,” said TTC CEO Andy Byford.

Leary helped implement the Presto electronic fare card in York Region, the regional payment system the TTC will launch on its new streetcars later this year.

He is an example of the high-quality candidates the TTC is attracting “because they want to be part of an all-out, top-to-bottom transformation of the TTC,” Byford said.

During his five years there, ridership grew from 18.6 million to about 23 million riders annually on its regular buses and Viva express service.

“Customer complaints have gone down. On-time performance has gone up. Vehicle reliability has gone up,” said Leary, adding that he’s excited about joining North America’s third-largest transit system on May 5, at a time the TTC is seeking to modernize its operations and customer relations.

Meantime, the TTC’s British-born CEO has recruited another rail expert from the London Underground as deputy chief operating officer. Mike Palmer most recently worked at Thales UK, which makes rail signal systems. He’s expected to start in Toronto in April.

Palmer will report to the TTC’s recently named chief operating officer, Gary Shortt, a TTC veteran.

He will be responsible for improving subway reliability and major upgrades to the rail system, including the new automatic train control system on the Yonge line.

The pair replace David Dixon and Jim Teeple, who left the TTC in October.

Leary, Palmer and Shortt all have about 30 years’ transit experience.

Chris Upfold, who has been acting as chief service officer, will resume his role as chief customer service officer. He was named deputy CEO earlier this month.

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